Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Our Courtship pt. II

As I was packing for the convent (I think it was the day before I left-typical me!), I was thinking about Boomz, and all of a sudden I thought, "I'm going to marry this man." I don't think that thought came from me, because it happened very suddenly, and I just KNEW it was true. My friend MAN (those are her initials lol) and I often say that truth resonates, and that's what happened when I thought that. I wish I could explain what I mean when I say I just KNEW, because that seems to happen to me a lot (sometimes I say to my husband, "I don't know how I know, I just know things!" lol), but I can't.

But at that point, I was "in too deep", and I kind of brushed the thought off. So late that August, I set off for the convent. As you know if you read my religious life posts, I left a few months later. When I went to get into the van, Boomz was waiting there for me! My mom had called him, and even though I said that I didn't want him to come along (I thought it would look bad), he didn't listen. lol When I saw him, I was completely shocked, so the first thing I did was smack him on the chest and said, "You're so dumb!". lol

After I left, Boomz and I talked on the phone or texted pretty much constantly. As I wasn't allowed to write him letters while I was in the convent, we had A LOT of catching up to do! Rumors were swirling around our group of friends because I hadn't come out and told people that I had left (I was scared of being judged, since I had made such a big deal out of going to the convent. Sigh.), which made me withdraw (true to my phlegmatic-sanguine self), and cause MORE rumors about Boomz and I. I still have trust issues due to all of that. Anyway, people were scandalized that we were spending so much time together (He lived 3.5 hours away from me at the time, so he drove to my parent's house every weekend to spend time with me). I, however, was sure that I was going to marry him, and kept saying to people, "Hey, if you know, you know". :) Most people felt we were going too fast, but by the end of April, we were engaged. :)

(This picture does not do it justice-Boomz did such a good job!)

Oh, btw, we never actually went on a "first date". Our relationship just kind of naturally progressed from friendship to...more than friends. It was wonderful! :)Anyway, he proposed to me in the Adoration chapel of his parish church the first weekend I actually plucked up the courage to drive to his house (It was the farthest I've ever driven by myself. lol I'm from a teeny tiny town-the interstate scared me!). When we got there, there was another woman there, so we sat and prayed silently for awhile. He had told me that he wanted to read a letter to me in the chapel, but I was getting impatient (we were going to Out.back afterwards lol), and told him he could just read it to me later. He insisted on waiting, and when the lady left, he went out to the car to get the letter. At that point, I suspected that he was going to propose, but wouldn't let myself believe it. Well, I was right! :) :) He was so cute as he was reading, he was shaking so much! Here's the engagement letter:

"Beloved, How deeply contented and at peace am I, darling, when I consider us together! I can think of no other path in life down which I could travel where I would be as happy, fulfilled, joyful, proud, and whole as I have been traveling the path of life with you since we met. At a time in my life when I doubted things like commitment, fidelity, compatibility, honesty, trustworthiness, even love-you came: a beacon shining brightly the love of Christ and began to restore my faith in those things which I thought I would never believe in again. Now, more than a year later, I have fallen more deeply in love with you than I could have ever thought possible. Your love of Our Lord, my beloved, has truly always been abundantly evident in all you say and do. I could ask for nothing more than to have such a beautiful model and inspiration as you are in what it means to love not only Christ, but also His Mother, His Church, and all His people. You have taught me much about love, patience, humility, kindness, gentleness-the list goes on. I still have much to learn, it's true, but I look so forward to learning and growing with you! The two of us, it could be said, are as different as night and day; there is some truth to this, I'll admit. However, I believe wholeheartedly that we complement and complete each other in such a beautiful, perfect way that it can only have been in the plan of Our Creator that we would unite and help spur each other on toward holiness, righteousness, virtue, and love. It is inspired by this belief-that we are perfect for each other and, apart from you, nothing makes sense-and through much prayer that I have come to know in my heart that we should spend the rest of our lives together. And so, I could think of no better place to ask you to be my wife, beloved, than in the peace and silence which the Presence our Eucharistic Lord brings, so that my petition to you might also serve as a prayer and petition to Him such that He Who is Grace might shower upon us, through His and Our Mother, Mary, all the grace we need to begin our life together.

2 comments:

True to her propensity to perfect reactions (see the slapping and "you're so dumb!" above), DW failed to mention that, when I did propose, her immediate (and sustained, I might add) reaction was "Nu-uh! No way! Are you serious?!" It took a while for me to actually get a "Yes" out of her!